Sustainability\ncan be defined as the practice of maintaining processes of productivity, either\nnatural or human- made, by replacing resources used with resources of equal or\ngreater value without degrading or endangering natural biotic systems.\nSustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of\nnatural systems with the social, political, and economic challenges faced by\nhumanity. \u201cDo not wait for extraordinary circumstances to do good action; try to\nuse ordinary situations\u201d\u2014Jean Paul Richter has rightly said. Countries across\nthe world have agreed on an ambitious agenda to transform our world by 2030,\nadopting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that aim to ensure no one is\nleft behind, and everyone benefits from development efforts. A set of 17\nSustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are to be implemented and achieved in\nevery country from the year 2016 to 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India\nis one of the mega bio-diverse countries of the world. India was one of the\nfirst few countries to enact a comprehensive Biological Diversity Act in 2002\nto give effect to the provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity,\n1992. Yet India and the world have miles to go before we can claim notable\nsuccess in fulfilling the objectives of the Convention like conservation of\nbiodiversity, sustainable use and sharing the benefits. \u201cWe talk about\nSustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which for me is excellent! As individuals\nworking in international development, have we taken the time to think and talk\nabout our Personal Development Goals (PDGs)? Do we demonstrate on a daily basis\nhow our day-to-day activities contribute to the achievement of the SDGs? Be the\nchange you want to see in the global space? Let us build our personal capacities\nfor global action!\u201d, world-famous grants management specialist, Benjamin Kofi\nQuansah has observed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Natural\necosystems are under stress and decline across most of the country. We cannot\njust consume our way to a more sustainable world\u201d. 10% of the country\u2019s\nwildlife is threatened with extinction. Agricultural biodiversity has declined\nby over 90% in many regions. Over half the available water bodies are polluted\nbeyond drinking level and often beyond even agricultural purpose, two-thirds of\nthe land is degraded to various levels of sub-optimal productivity, air\npollution in several cities is amongst the world\u2019s worst. \u2018Modern\u2019 wastes\nincluding electronic and chemical are being produced at rates far exceeding our\ncapacity to recycle or manage. A 2008 report by the Global Footprint Network\nand Confederation of Indian Industries suggests that India has the world\u2019s\nthird biggest ecological footprint, that its resource use is already twice of\nits bio-capacity, and that this bio-capacity itself has declined by half in the\nlast few decades. Being green is more than just buying \u2018eco\u2019. It is unshakable\ncommitment to a sustainable lifestyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\naim of ecologically sustainable development is to maximise human well-being or\nquality of life without jeopardising the life support system. The measures for\nsustainable development may be different in developed and developing countries,\naccording to their level of technological and economic development. \u201cWhere the\nquality of life goes down for the environment, the quality of life goes down\nfor humans.\u201d\u2014is a famous quote by George Holland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India\nhas played an important role in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The\nresponsibility for overseeing SDGs implementation has been assigned to the\nNational Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), which is the premier\npolicy think tank of the Union Government and is chaired by the Prime Minister.\nNITI Aayog has mapped the goals and targets to various nodal Ministries as well\nas flagship programmes. State Governments are also engaged in developing road\nmaps for achieving the SDGs with several of them having already published their\nplans. Draft indicators for tracking the SDGs have been developed and placed in\nthe public domain by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation\nfor wider consultation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nprimary goal is to end poverty in all forms everywhere. Rapid growth (SDG 8) is\nthe key weapon in any country\u2019s arsenal for combating poverty. On the one hand,\nit creates well-paid jobs that empower households by giving them necessary\npurchasing power to access food, clothing, housing, education and health. On\nthe other, it places ever-rising revenues in the hands of the government to\nfinance social spending. India has continued its programme of economic reforms\nto achieve sustained rapid growth. Hence the government had taken initial steps\nto weed out poverty by introducing following schemes to enhance the national\nlivelihood : The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act\n(MGNREGA), Swachh Bharat, Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan\nJyoti Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana and\nthe National Social Assistance Programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Similarly,\nthe National Health Mission and the Integrated Child Development Services\n(ICDS) initiatives strive to provide access to primary health care and\nnutrition for the population. The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, launched in\n2016, aims to provide Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to poor families with\ninitial financial support for accessing a connection. Under the National Rural\nDrinking Water Programme, more than 77% of the rural habitations have been\nfully covered with 40 litres of drinking water per capita on a daily basis. The\nobjective of the Clean India Movement is to ensure an Open Defecation Free\nIndia by 2019. Over the last two years, more than 39 million household toilets\nhave been constructed. Moreover, 1,93,000 villages and 531 cities have been\nsuccessful in ending the practice of open defecation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nsecondary aim is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being at all ages.\nThe National Health Policy, 2017 specifies targets for universalising primary\nhealth care, reducing infant and under-5 mortality, preventing premature deaths\ndue to non-communicable diseases as well as increasing the government\nexpenditure on health. To tackle the death of children due to\nvaccine-preventable diseases and the risk due to incomplete immunisation, the\nGovernment is aiming to provide vaccination against diphtheria, whooping cough,\ntetanus, tuberculosis, polio, measles and hepatitis to all unimmunised or\npartially immunised children by 2020. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao is also an\nimportant initiative under which the State governments are implementing a range\nof measures suited to their local contexts to elevate the status of the girl\nchild. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then,\nthe tertiary aim is to build a resilient infrastructure and sustainable\nindustrialisation. All forms of transportation such as roads, railways, civil\naviation and waterways are being rapidly expanded. Road connectivity and\nelectricity are being brought to all villages. The objective of the Digital\nIndia initiative is to build a digitally empowered society by focusing on\nbroadband highways, mobile connectivity and Internet as well as e-Governance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another\npriority area is manufacturing. The new Manufacturing Policy raises the output\ntarget from 16% of GDP to 25% by 2025. India is developing into a high-tech and\nglobal manufacturing hub because of the emphasis on \u2018Make in India\u2019 and a\nsubstantial increase in FDI inflows. But, \u2018Say No To Plastic\u2019, manufacture\nthings which are not harmful to ecosystem.\n\nFor promoting entrepreneurship and enhancing economic growth, the\nGovernment has launched the Start-up India programme. Innovation and\nentrepreneurship are also being encouraged through initiatives like the Atal\nInnovation Mission. The 14th Finance Commission award is being implemented to\nsubstantially enhance fiscal devolution to States (from 32% to 42% of the\nCentral pool of tax proceeds) and local governments. This is enabling a\nsignificant flow in development interventions designed and implemented\nindependently by sub-national governments. We have a path for sustainable\ndevelopment, but unless all our methods are directed towards it, we cannot\nachieve sustainable development.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sustainability can be defined as the practice of maintaining processes of productivity, either natural or human- made, by replacing resources used with resources of equal or greater value without degrading or endangering natural biotic systems. Sustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of natural systems with the social, political, and economic challenges faced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":616,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614\/revisions\/616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}